William J. Smith

About William J. Smith

Experienced Education Innovation Expert - Adaptive Leadership Change Agent - Tireless Advocate for Children - Team Empowerment - Design Thinking Advocate - Solutions Architect I am a student-centered educational innovator that values empowering others, collaboration with all stakeholders, and building caring relationships. But at my core, I am a teacher and a coach at heart. As a life-long learner, I challenge myself to grow daily; never coasting; developing new skills, seeking new opportunities and participating in daily reflection on past experiences in order to improve future performance. I set a very high standard for myself ethically and professionally; leading by example. I am the product of much good fortune. Who I am as a person and a professional has been shaped by nationally recognized school leaders, exposure to unique circumstances, and events for which I have seized opportunities to lead. I have had the rare opportunity to allow my passion for children, leadership, and innovation, to align with my career path, having been empowered by others to take risks and throw status quo to the wind along the way. Along my journey, I have gained significant experience in secondary redesign, having published and currently hold copyrights to a secondary redesign model and scheduling format. I have become a leader in curriculum development and instruction, having written my dissertation on improving student achievement through extended alternate-day instruction. As Howell’s principal, I also was a member of the Regional CTE program directors and supervised the local CTE program. I am a successful grant writer and have been trained as a Federal Grant Project Director. As leader, I thrive on the opportunities created through resolving challenges we face as educators, by focusing on empowering and enlarging the capacity of others in a quest to innovate and lead, resulting in educational change and student success.

Experience

1. Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services

   Kent Isd

   Aug 2011 — Present · Grand Rapids, MI, US

   My passion for the learning process continues to fuel my drive to support others on their quest to become more impactful in the educational setting.Kent ISD provides services to twenty local public districts and to all non-public schools within its boundaries. Directly or indirectly, we serve almost 400 schools, more than students and educators. One of 57 ISD\'s in Michigan, Kent ISD provides a wide range of services to meet the needs of the educators, families, and communities we serve. My responsibilities include directing the supports and instructional services, including teaching and learning, special education, instructional technology, and career-technical education program including career to work and college readiness.Currently I lead the Instructional Services division of one of the most respected school service agencies in the country, focused on leading learning and helping all students achieve, my efforts are focused on leading the development of an innovative technology tool that blends highly effective curriculum and content resources with the data support services enabling parents, students, and teachers to experience the efficiencies of data-driven and research-based individualized instruction.• In combining the positions of Teaching and Learning and Organizational Development and Planning into Instructional Services; which encompasses 94% of the Kent ISD $298 Million Budget; implemented a Design Thinking and Adaptive Leadership model to achieve the exemplary results; including Continuous Improvement External Feedback stating “the level of services provided have never been better in a climate that is far more complex” and Internal Feedback indicated that Think Tank Thursday, Fact or Fiction Friday, and the Instructional Service Update were the three most impactful artifacts evidencing Kent ISD’s Leading Learning and being the First Choice for Services.

Education

• Grand Valley State University

  BA, Secondary Education-History/Political Science/PE

  1987 — 1991

• Northcentral University

  Doctorate of Education, Educational Leadership

  2006 — 2009

• Western Michigan University

  Masters of Arts, Educational Leadership

  1993 — 1995